Improvement in magazine fire-arms



.N. KING.

Magazine Fire-Arm.

Patented Aug. 28, 1866.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

NELSON KING, OF BRIDGEPOBT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO 0. F. WINCHESTER.

IMPROVEMENT IN MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 57,636,"dated August28, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NELsON KING, of Bridgeport, in theoounty ofFairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inRepeating Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following, when takenin connection with the accompanying drawchanical parts of the arm; Fig.4:, a longitudinal central section and in Fig. 5 a section on line oror, looking to the rear.

My invention relates to an improvement in the repeating fire-armspatented by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson the 14th of February,1854, improved by B. T. Henry,'patented October 16, 1860, in whichseveral metallic cartridges are placed in a tube or magazine beneath thebarrel of the arm, and carried therefrom to the barrel, and after thecartridge is discharged the shell retracted by the movement of thetrigger-guard; and my invention consists in an improvement whereby theretraction of the cartridge is made positive.

The operative parts of the arm in which I illustrate my improvements aresubstantially those found in the patents before referred to.

A is the barrel, of any known construction; B, the frame, to the forwardend of which the barrel is secured, and to the rear end a wooden stock,C. In the frame B, and directly in the rear of the barrel, is formed'achamber or mortise, D, in which is placed a carrier-block, E, the officeof which is to receive a cartridge from the magazine and raise it forinsertion into the barrel; also to throw the discharged shell from thearm after it has been withdrawn from the barrel. For this purpose thesaid carrier-block E is constructed with a chamber, E (see Fig. 5,) toreceive the cartridge from themagazine, and it is moved up within thechamber or mortise D to present the cartridge to the barrel forinsertion, and down when the cartridge has been removed from the carrierto the barrel, and is thus moved by means of the lever F, one end ofwhich lies within the carrier-block E, the other hung to the pivot Gr.

H is a lever, serving both as a triggerguard. and as an instrument bywhich the sev eral mechanical parts of the arm are made to operate. Itis hung to the pivot G, upon which both the levers F and H may be freelymoved. 7

By moving the lever H from the position denoted in Fig. 8 to thatdenoted in Fig. 4, a shoulder, a, formed upon the lever H, strikes acorresponding shoulder, b, upon the lever F, raising the said lever andcarrier-block E, as denoted in Fig. 4. By returning the said lever H theupper arm, I, of the lever H strikes another shoulder, c, on the saidlever F, and returns the lever F, with the carrierblock E, to theposition denoted in Fig. 3.

The breech-pin L is hollow, of cylindrical form, through which passes apiston, M. The rear end of the said pin L is formed, as seen in Figs. 4and 3, so as to attach upon either side to apivot, d, a link, N, of atoggle-joint, as denoted in broken lines, Fig. 2. The other links, P, ofthe toggle are hinged to the frame by a pivot, c, and the two linkshinged together at f.

The upper arm, I, of the lever H extends up between the twotoggle-joints, and through the said arm I a pin, g, passes, extendingout upon either side, so as to enter a slot or groove, h, upon theinside of the links P, so that as the lever H is moved, as from theposition in Fig. 3 to that in Fig. 4, the pin y will act to close thetoggle and draw back the breeclr pin L, which moves freely back andforth in the frame B, as denoted in Fig. 4, and by the return of thelever 1-1 will extend the tog gle and return the breeclrpin L, as seenin Fig. 3.

The raising of the carrier-block E, as before described, occurs afterthe brcech'pin has been drawn back, and the breech-pin is returnedbefore the return of the carrier-block, passing through the chamber E inthe carrier-blook, for the purpose, as more fully hereinafter shown, ofremoving the cartridge from the chamber E in the carrier-block to thebarrel. Therefore, in order to allow the carrier-block to return, it isnecessary to cut a slot, E from the chamber E up through the carrierblock, as seen in Fig. 8. This slot must be narrower than the chamber,in order to prevent the accidental removal of the cartridge in the saidchamber, as also to cause the raising of the carrier-block to eject thedischarged and withdrawn shell; and that this narrow slot may pass downover the breech-pin, which is nearly the same diameter as the chamber inthe carrier-block, the breechpin is reduced upon its two sides, as seenin Figs. 2 and 3.

A separate spring, 2, for each of the levers F and H issecured upon theframe, the ends of which bear one upon the lever H to retain the leverin its home position, the other upon the lever F, (see Fig. 4,) for thepurpose more fully hereinafter described. Thelever H is held in itsposition againstthe frame by means of a thumb-screw, or an equivalenttherefor.

Beneath the barrel, and opening through the frame to the carrier-block,is fixed a tube or magazine, A, into which several cartridges areplaced, to be successively removed by the carrier-block for insertioninto the barrel, and are forced from the tube into the chamber in thecarrier-block by means of a helical spring within the said tube.

To the inner end of the piston is fixed a collar having projectingpoints upon either side. (See Fig.) The said collar is of largerdiameter than that part of the piston to which it is attached, and therecess made in the breechpin to receive the said collar is made a littledeeper than the thickness of the collar, so as to allow the piston withthe collar to more back, so that when the pin is forced up against thecartridge, as before described, the projecting points, as they pressagainst the cartridge, will force the piston back, and thus situated,when the hammer strikes the piston, as before described, the projectingpoints will indent the metal of the cartridge sufficiently to eX- plodethe fuhninate and ignite the powder within the cartridge.

Heretofore a latch upon the breeclrpin has been arranged so that as acartridge was forced into the barrel by the breech-pin the said latchwould hook over the flange of the cartridge and withdraw the shell whenthe breech-pin was again withdrawn. This arrangement, though muchapproved, may sometimes fail to retract or withdraw the shell from thebarrel. To avoid this possibility and make the retrac- 'tionv orwithdrawal positive, I form an annular groove, a, (see Fig. 4,) upon thebreech-pin L, into which I place a ring, (7 having upon its upper side ahook, a projecting forward,

so that when the carrier-block is raised, as in Fig. 4, to carry thecartridge up for insertion into the barrel, as from the position in Fig.3 to that in Fig. 4, the rim of the cartridge comes under and within thegrasp of the said hook.

After the cartridge has thus passed up to the position denoted in Fig.4, return the breeclrpin to the position denoted in Figs. 2 and 3, whichoperation will insert the cartridge into the barrel, the hook to passinginto a re cess in the rear of the barrel, as seen in Fig. 3.

The ring (1 I make a little shorter than the groove in which it isplaced, for two reasons: first, that as the cartridge, when it israised, lies upon the carrier-block upon a little inclination, as seenin Fig. 4, therefore it is necessary that the hook be a little longerthan the thickness of the rim of the cartridge, in order that thecartridge may surely enter the grasp of the hook.

WVhen the breech-pin is moved forward, as in Fig. 4, the hook and itsring are forced back in the groove, in order that as little recess aspossible may be formed in the rear of the barrel; but when drawn out, asin Fig. 4, the hook and ring are again forced forward for the reasonjust given, and for the further reason that the cartridge is ejectedfrom the hook much easier than if it were held closely against thebreeclrpin, as hereinafter shown.

After the cartridge has been discharged, withdraw the breech-pin, asbefore described. The hook upon the pin surely withdraws the shell fromthe barrel to the position denoted by the cartridge in Fig. 4. hen inthis position the carrier-block is again raised. The blockwill strikethe shell, the hook holding the rear end until the carrier is nearlyupto its full height. The spring 2 will. fall into a notch on the leverF, giving a sudden movement to the carrier, which will eject thedischarged shell entirely from the arm, as denoted in Fig. 4, thecarrier presenting another cartridge for insertion into the barrel; andthus the operation may be continued until all the cartridges in themagazine have been each in their turn discharged.

Having therefore thus fully described my invention, what I claim as newand useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The arrangement of the retracting-hook a with its sleeve (1 upon thebreech-pin L, so as to retract the cartridge or shell, substantial] y inthe manner herein described.

NELSON KING.

IVitnesses:

HENRY A. CHAPIN, WM. D. LANE.

